2010 Week 14 Recap

Eagles over Cowboys, Sunday, December 12, 2010

In attendance: Shoegal, Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom, You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad, Chef Spouse, and a friend of mine from Florida. The YAPstars, sadly, blew us off. Too bad for them, because it was a GREAT game.

Menu: Chef Spouse made all kinds of yummy snacks, Shoegal brought cheese, Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom made brisket and mac&cheese. URP!

Stud of the Week: DeSean Jackson, who, as Chef Spouse observed and Cris Collinsworth confirmed, should NOT have been penalized for his TD celebration. Apparently, the Cowboys didn't like it. Well, stop him from scoring a 91 yard TD and you won't have to see it, donkeys!

But I want to see it again:



Revisiting the keys to the game I identified last week, which happened and which didn't?

Well, Dez Bryant was out. That's indisputable.

Did they get DeSean Jackson going? Um, yeah. 210 yards on 4 receptions and a TD.

Did they get LeSean McCoy going? Yes again. 149 yards on the ground, including masterfully executing virtually every play to run out the clock in the final 4:22 of the game.

Did the O-line protect Michael Vick? No. He gets hit, he pops up. He gets hit, he pops up. He gets hit out of bounds, he pops up. And then Andy Reid screams at the zebras. The funny thing is that Terry McAulay's crew is usually one of the better ones, in my opinion, because they're more likely to just let the guys play. And that was borderline - an Eagles fan (or coach) would've seen it as a penalty, but a Cowboys fan (or coach) probably wouldn't. But it's good to see Andy stepping up for his QB, particularly since every time Vick goes down, I worry that THIS is the time he's not going to pop back up.

Asante Samuel wasn't back, but Kitna's mostly a short yardage guy, so it probably wasn't that big a deal. And the D did great shutting down the Cowboys running game.

Michael Vick? Good game - 2 picks, but only 1 was his fault (and by the way Maclin, you need to catch that pass, buddy), 3 TDs (two passing, one rushing), Kitna had more yards on the ground, but I'm loving that any play can be a big play. I'm loving that the D can give up a lead in the third quarter, and the team can fight back. I'm loving the chemistry. I'm loving that if the special teams can get the offense at least to around the 40, they're getting at least 3 points out of it.

And speaking of, how about some love for Chef Spouse's boy David Akers with that 50 yard field goal that turned out to be the margin of victory?

And did you see the postgame Vick and Jackson interview with Andrea Kramer? DJax was jumping around like a 5 year old who'd had too much sugar. It was hilarious.

Not so good?

The Eagles red zone D is bad. Like, historically bad. And they're terrible in the 3rd quarter. The offense is coming up clutch, and when they enter the fourth quarter down, I actually have hope. But it's better not to be down.

Speaking of down, Jon Kitna should NEVER be able to pick up a 4th and 8 on his feet. That is shameful. So were penalties that extended Dallas drives - Dimitri Patterson, I'm looking at you - and backed us up at critical times. Jorrick Calvin, you're a rookie, so I'm not going to bust your chops about the running around in the endzone. Your heart was in the right place, even if you didn't know what you were doing. But that punch? Unacceptable.

Speaking of unacceptable, what was with Collinsworth (who I normally love) kissing the Cowboys' asses all game? Newsflash: the Cowboys think they're the center of the goddamn universe, but in reality they are not the sun around which the entire NFL revolves. Teams, even NFC East teams, occasionally do stuff for reasons that have NOTHING to do with the Cowboys. Shocking, I know.

You know what else is unacceptable?  Stewart Bradley dislocated his elbow and Brandon Graham tore his ACL. We can't be losing any more players here, people!

And now the Eagles/Vikings matchup on Dec 26 has been flexed to prime time. The Eagles have killed in ratings in this year as well as on the field, and so far, the team is loving the night games, 5-0.

There's been a lot of tweeting about playoff scenarios, a surprising amount of them incorrect. Here's the deal: if the Eagles beat the Giants AND win one of their last two games, they will win the NFC East regardless of what else the Giants do. If the Bears win out, the Eagles will be the #3 seed regardless. If the Eagles win out and the Bears drop either the Jets or Packers game (possible if not likely), the Eagles will sneak into the #2 seed. Don't speculate - get the facts at the NFL site. They do a good job of keeping the playoff picture section up to date.

Around the rest of the NFL...

Colts over Titans. Barely. The Colts were way up until the 4th quarter, and almost gave up the game. That's not the way it usually goes. The way it usually goes is that the Colts are down by 13 at the 2 minute warning and win anyway. I had actually stopped watching the game and gone to bed at the end of the third quarter, because it looked like it was over. Not this year.

Bills over Browns. Browns are out of the playoffs now. I mean, it would've required the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals to just up and quit for them to get there, but now they're officially out. The Bills have been officially out since August.

Falcons over Panthers. Duh.

Lions over Packers. Raise your hand if you called this one. If you recall, I said that the key to the Packers season, given all the injuries they've sustained, was to keep Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews vertical. Well, now they're down to 50%, with the Pats, Giants, and Bears coming up. Yikes.

Jaguars over Raiders. The Raiders managed to tie up the game and then let the Jags score in 2 plays - a great kick off return, and an even better run by MoJo. You tie the game and then let the opponent score in 20 seconds? Not gonna win a whole lot of games that way.

Steelers over Bengals. If this was a Steelers blog, the stud of the week would be Troy Polamalu. Just sayin'.

Bucs over Redskins. There was an article in the WaPo Sunday magazine focusing on Billy Cundiff and talking about how tough it is to be an NFL kicker. Well, if you're kicking like Graham Gano anyway. Thank God we have David Akers, aka Mr. Reliable. Wanna bet Gano is playing for the Panthers (or the CFL) by Thursday? Bleeding Green Nation put it best: "Redskins lose in the most hilarious fashion of the season."

Saints over Rams. Again, duh.

49ers over Seahawks. I "like" Brian Westbrook on Facebook. Aside from "liking" his sexy shirtless profile picture, I also "like" his current comment: "Had a great day at the office yesterday." Yes, sir, you did. 110 combined yards and a TD. I'm telling you, the West is going to be won by a 7-9 team.

Cardinals over Broncos. Guess the New Head Coach Magic has been all used up for this season.

Pats over Bears. Ex-Navy Cheesehead is still recovering from getting his new ankle, so he wasn't able to make it out again yesterday. But he did email about being worried about the Pats. I find that charmingly optimistic, considering that the Eagles first have to get into the playoffs (likely but far from certain at this point), then WIN the NFC, then we can worry about the Pats. But if we have a repeat of Super Bowl 39 including the outcome, I'm going to start taking hostages.

Dolphins over Jets. First of all, people were complaining about DeSean Jackson having no class for his Nestea plunge. Two words for you: Sal Alosi. Also, what is wrong with the Jets? Standings-wise they're still right in it. But they got their butts whupped by the Pats and then couldn't put the Dolphins away in what was a very sloppy game. And they have the Steelers up next. Things are looking a little shaky for Gang Green.

Chargers over Chiefs. A Chargers shutout of the Chiefs is more like what we're used to seeing. But the Chargers' slow start may doom them this year.

I was supposed to be able to recap Giants at Vikings during Ravens at Texans, until this happened:



If the Giants could manage to lose this game (which is looking pretty unlikely here at halftime), that would be awesome. If they could manage to get snowed in in Detroit, further shortening their week, that would be even more awesome.

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2010 Week 1 Recap

Eagles v. Packers, Sunday, September 12, 2010

In attendance:  I was all by myself in Chicago, but Chef Spouse reports that Shoegal joined him back in DC

Menu:  I got a room service burger.  Chef Spouse made fajitas and guacamole, which appears to have lost its magical powers in the offseason.

Stud of the Week:  Mike Vick.  Damn, I don't remember him looking that good back in Atlanta. And with K2 out for, well, we don't really know how long at this point, could we see a QB controversy brewing? Probably not - Big Red has said definitively that K2 is the future. But Vick looked terrific - his wheels are back, he was accurate, he made good short and long passes and good decisions, and he took what the defense gave him.  I know a lot of people are pissed he didn't run it in mid-way through the fourth quarter when we took the 3 points instead, leaving us down by 7, but he was about 12 yards out and while there were no Packers DIRECTLY in front of him, there were several nearby between him and the end zone.  Other than that (and I do think he made the right decision in attempting the pass, because the run was all or nothing at that point, and it had little chance of succeeding), he played a great game, jumpstarting our moribund offense and nearly bringing us back from an ass-whuppin' that was a lot more one-sided than the 17 point (at its widest) differential reflected.  Did you know that Vick is now one of only 3 QBs with over 4000 rush yards? The other two are Steve Young and our own Randall Scramble.
Other than that, there wasn't a lot of good.  Both teams start game day with a 45 man roster, and by the end of the first half, I was pretty sure one or both teams was going to run out of players.

At the beginning of the game, I was thinking: "I'm really surprised Jamal Jackson is back! It seems awfully fast after a torn ACL and, although he's clearly a better center than the other options (Cole and McGlynn), he and K2 have had NO time together."  Did you miss that he was even there? That's because, basically by the time I finished thinking that thought, he was out (maybe for the season - again) with a torn triceps.

Packers rookie Clay Matthews had a great day, if by "great day" you mean "physically incapacitated every single Eagle he came within 10 feet of."

K2?  Out with a concussion for who knows how long.

Stewart Bradley?  Same.  Now, he did fall down after getting up because he tripped on his own feet, but he seriously got his clock cleaned, which you could tell by looking at his eyes.

I already mentioned our center.

And then there's Leonard Weaver.  That was literally a sickening collision.  Knees are not supposed to bend like that.  He had to pretty much be carried off the field, and it looked like he was crying.  Think he's out for the season?  Yeah, me too.  During the game Adam Schefter tweeted that the Eagles were thinking it was probably a torn ACL (it is).  I quote @BleedingGreen:

My eyes reported that when it happened.

The Eagles sideline was starting to look like the train station scene in Gone with the Wind, only less cheerful.

I remember at one point, Clay Matthews had drilled Mike Vick and the Idiot Twins were blathering on about God knows what on TV and Vick's holding his left arm and they're not addressing it and I about flipped out.  Because I saw Mike Kafka at training camp, and trust me, we do not want him to be our only option.

On to the game itself.  K2, until he went down, looked like a rookie.  He's still keying on particular receivers and not going through his reads.  I hope he's able to fix that.  Also, son, you're not Big5.  Don't throw off your back foot.  I also didn't like the constant screwing around with taking him out and putting Vick in, because it seemed to me that he never got a chance to get comfortable.  Just leave him alone and let him run the offense for chrissakes!

David Akers continues to be money.  He was good from 45, and he's pretty much the only guy on the team over 30 at this point. Something to think about.  Of course, he is a kicker, and they tend to have long careers, but still.

I expected penalties from this bunch of young'uns.  But more penalty yards in the first half than total yards?  Only 7 total yards of offense?  NO catches for Peanut?  NO catches for Celek?

And then we started the second half without K2.  At least it made AR and/or Mornhinweg quit screwing around and just play a QB.  But we still couldn't seem to do anything right.  Vick started with a solid run and a great pass - and then Charles Woodson knocked the ball loose as Eldra Buckley fights for more yards, and the Packers waltzed on down the field for another score, taking the score to 20-3.

After that, our offense starting to making things happen, but the defense fell apart.  We got in the end zone - FINALLY - and then the Packer got a great run back on the kickoff  and then 4 plays later, SCORED AGAIN.  Were they just gassed in the second half, are the Packers that good (possibly), or can they just not cover anyone (I sure as hell hope that's not it)?

I definitely didn't like the draw call on our last chance to put together a drive on the 4th and 1.  Vick's a great outside runner, but he's not big or powerful enough for the draw play.  And the Packers clearly knew it was coming.

And, as usual, our clock management was a mess. In other news, gravity is still in effect.

I suspect Vick will start again against the Lions next week, given the concussion situation, and after that, we'll have to see.  But again, Andy's 100% that Kolb's the future, so let's hope he can get over his beginner jitters soon.

Around the rest of the NFL...

(I'm operating at a bit of a handicap here, since I'm on a business trip and it's seriously curtailing my SportsCenter and NFL Network viewing time.  I'll do my best, and I promise to return to full-on snark next week.)

Saints over Vikings:  Not exactly the dazzling offensive fireworks we were all expecting, but a good game, and a good start to a Saints season that will hopefully see at least an NFC South repeat.  Brett Favre looked RUSTY RUSTY RUSTY.  Shouldn't have spent the entire offseason in Mississippi, Gramps.

Bucs over Browns:  For a while there (OK, the first half) it looked like the Browns might actually win one.  Nope.

Dolphins over Bills:  The game was closer than I expected.  Dolphins, if you're going to win the division, you need to start playing like the season actually, you know, STARTED.
Pats over Bengals:  Hm.  So the TO/Ochocinco combo didn't produce rainbow, unicorns, and puppies for everyone.  Imagine that.

Texans over Colts:  I actually got to watch the second half of this game.  Jeff Saturday is one of the few centers known by name in the NFL.  He was out Sunday with an injury.  How much do you think Peyton missed him?  What's more than "a lot"?  Midway through the game, I wrote:  "If the Texans lose, the play of the game was Pierre Garcon saving the Glover Quin almost-pick mid way through the 4th. Not too sure about that call, but it led to the Colts' TD, cutting the Texans' lead to 10." But the Texans pulled it out anyway.  I'm telling you, this is their year to at least GET TO the playoffs.
Jaguars over Broncos:  I have literally no comment on this other than, "Hm."

Steelers over Falcons:  I admit it - I'm surprised.  It's too early to tell, but I was expecting the Steelers to struggle due to their offseason messes and the Falcons to be really strong this year.  Both of those could still happen, but not this week.

Titans over Raiders:  WAY over.  So far over, I think Chris Johnson was showered and sipping an umbrella drink in the owner's box by the start of the second half. Jason Campbell also got sacked 4 times.  Maybe it's him.

Giants over Panthers: I still don't think they're going to be very good this year, but then again, neither will the Panthers.

Bears over Texans:  I'm not so sure about the Calvin Johnson TD that was called back with 24 seconds left. He clearly had control.  I call BS.  I get that it's The Rule, but it's one of the rules that makes no sense.

Cardinals over Rams:  Who's even under center in Arizona?  Guess it doesn't matter if you still have Fitz and Tim Hightower.

Seahawks over 49ers:  Is it too late to change my pick for NFC West?

Redskins over Cowboys:  I sure as hell hope you watched the game because it was SUPER exciting.  I am SO glad to be wrong about this one.  I am SO glad DMac was able to start the season with a win over the Cowboys after the ignominious way last season ended.  Both teams made plenty of dumb mistakes, but I have to say that the Cowboys were embarrassingly sloppy.  I thought Trent Williams did quite a good job. I think Miles Austin is a punk.  I think the Cowboys play dirty.  And I think it must be great to be in DC today.

Off to watch the MNF double header with some vendors at a sports bar...no doubt trouble of the best kind awaits....

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Training Camp Report

Chef Spouse and I made the pilgrimage to the Goodman Stadium at Lehigh University Friday, August 6, thus fulfilling both this year's New Year's resolution and a life-long dream.  And it truly felt like a pilgrimage - due to major storms in the DC area, it took me more than an hour and a half to cover the 9 miles between my office and my house, and things didn't get any better Friday, as we hit an hour of just sitting there (literally - we turned the car off) on the Northeast Extension due to an accident and then, when we approached Bethlehem, it became apparent that Chef Spouse had gotten directions *to Lehigh* rather than to the stadium.  I should've known we were in trouble when I asked him about directions that morning and he'd gotten directions to Lehigh, PA rather than to Bethlehem.  Important tip: ask more precise questions about whether or not Chef Spouse has directions to the ACTUAL destination next time.

If you want deep coverage of training camp, you've definitely come to the wrong place.  I love the Eagles, I love to write about the Eagles, but they don't know me from Adam (more on that below).  You want opinions from people with stuff like "credentials" and "access" and "this is their full time job"?  Check out Bleeding Green Nation and Iggles Blog (the new home of Tommy Lawlor).  I don't have that kind of time.  Or level of professionalism.

So here's what I saw (in between talking to Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom and You-Two-Calm-Down-or-I'm-Turning-Off-the-TV Dad, who came with us on Saturday.  I convinced Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom to ditch a bridal shower.  Why would you want to go to a bridal shower when there's football to be watched?):

Kolb is not...is not...I can't bear to say his name.  I am NOT talking about Donovan.  I'm still at "denial" in the stages of grief. The current Redskins ad campaign featuring McNabb? Clearly an elaborate practical joke.

Moving on, I did see some good connections between  Kolb and Celek on Friday.  On Saturday, he had some good completions with Peanut for like 60+ yards, some good hookups with Maclin for more like 30 yards, and some very nice short passes to Avant over the middle.

Speaking of Avant, I think he is going to have a break out year (and I'm not the only one), which is a good thing, since I only have a jersey for 1 active player (Trent Cole), so I need to pick another one up ASAP.  Avant's currently in the lead. Kolb likes the short pass (unlike his predecessor), and Avant is Mr. Hands at that distance.

I thought Vick looked bad.  I expected him to have improved his ability to complete passes in the off-season, and I was sorely mistaken.  Worse, rather than going through his reads, he kept taking off running.  Now, he did look faster than last year, but all I could think was:  "You're wearing the red jersey, donkey! Stop running!  No one is going to hit you!  Throw some passes for chrissakes!"

Number 3 QB Mike Kafka looked REALLY bad.  I'd be surprised if I saw him complete even a half dozen passes.  Yikes. 

The defense is kind of an unknown, although it was really good to see Stewart Bradley out there and his knee seems fine.  We picked up Marlin Jackson, and he didn't even manage to make it TO training camp.  Ernie Simms was the big off-season signing, and he looked good, at least in practice.  Asante Samuel still can't seem to tackle (then again, it was training camp).  And if you look at the current roster, there are a LOT of rookies.

It was interesting to see the kinds of drills they run:  blocking kicks using soccer balls, linebackers trying to cover skittering balls, the kickers throwing to simulate punt returns, etc.

So back to that whole "they don't know me from Adam" thing.  I mentioned that there are a LOT of rookies at training camp, and a lot of missing familiar faces. I was having the whole "I don't know who these guys ARE" experience.  And it hit me: I have a one-way relationship with the team. I know, late realization, but it really struck home when I was looking at all the new names on the backs of jerseys (54!...is Brandon Graham?!? Who the hell is that?!?).  Time to start stalking a whole new crowd.

I thought Andy looked a little thinner.  I have a theory:  he stress eats.  Which means he loses weight in the off-season, only to fall prey to the siren song of the Tastykakes once guys start screwing up or getting injured or both.

One thing that was really cool is that you can get pretty up close and person with the players, many of whom turn out to be really nice guys.  There are official autograph signings after the morning practices, and it's a lottery system and it's all regimented and it's only a few players and whatnot.  But a lot of the guys go to the edge of the field after both morning and afternoon practices and will sign anything you shove at them - or take pictures with you.  And they're kind of like normal people - I mean, they aren't like Godzilla to your screaming Japanese person - only amazingly ripped normal people.

I also got to meet up with long-time blog fan rocketman for a beer after Friday's practice, which was nice.  Even though he's really a 49ers fan.  But I forgive him.  (He lives nearby.)

My tips to have a Snarktacular Training Camp (aka, "What I'd do differently next time"):

• Go to Philly for flight night
• Spend the night with the 'rents (You might not have that option. On the other hand, Life-Long Eagles Fan Mom is REALLY nice.  She might let you stay.)
• Drive up from WEST CHESTER (rather than DC) Friday morning
• Stay over in Bethlehem Friday night and hit Musikfest
• Buy a team football
• Bring a Sharpie
• Don't worry about the "autograph rules"

Check out all the snaps on Flickr.

Next up?  First preseason game against the Jaguars...on Chef Spouse's 40th birthday.

And a final note - Brees is on the cover of Madden 11.  He's a dead man.  Want to start an over/under pool on whether he survives the preseason?

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